FORT KNOX, Ky. — Practicing emergency care under fire is an essential skill that all cadets at Cadet Summer Training learn before commissioning as officers, and cadets assigned to Alpha Company, 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp, had the chance to hone their skills during the Tactical Combat Casualty Care course on July, 29, 2026.

Regardless of whether it is dragging a training dummy under simulated gunfire, calling a 9-line medical evacuation or practicing breathing exercises, each and every skill is necessary for cadets to learn. Whether or not the cadets plan on commissioning into medical services, they can all agree on one thing — the importance of learning these life saving skills.

Although he aspires to one day branch into civil or foreign affairs, Cadet Chandler Holm, assigned to 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp, from Santa Clara University, believes that even though TCCC is one of the most difficult and strenuous exercises that cadets do during CST, it is also one that they should prioritize.

“There is only so much you can do outside of a hospital,” Holm said. “You have to make sure that you can get to them, get them back to cover and heal them up. You do not want your battle buddies to die, but you are not always going to have the luxury of an air conditioned room or a doctor’s office where they [can] perform that aid. You are not going to have the skills of a surgeon, and you can not expect the average soldier to have those skills.”

Cadet Ruben Verdeza, assigned to 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp, from Bowie State University, has a similar perspective.

Having previously served as a combat medic for five years, Verdeza walked into TCCC knowing that he wanted to eventually branch into medical services. Despite having to disregard all prior medical knowledge before stepping on the course, he believes that TCCC is a good way to prepare cadets for potential medical emergencies.

“It is good practical usage to understand how to use a tourniquet and how to use some of these to help protect and save lives.” Verdeza said. “It puts you into that kind of environment. Your heart rate is up [and] you are kind of pressured to remember all these steps.”

Even then, Verdeza understands just how important this training exercise is for his future.

“I am going to be overseeing the training for the medics. So, with being in charge of a whole med platoon, you need to make sure that they can actually do their jobs, because if not, people will die.”

At the end of the day, each and every cadet understands just how vital the skills they learn during TCCC can be, both now and in the future — especially when there are lives on the line.